Gardens, Memorials and a Rally

Last week we started off with a visit to the Botanical Gardens. There are outside sections to these gardens, but the main section of the garden is a huge indoor area that recreates different landscapes. We visited a desert, a rainforest, a jungle, Hawaii, as well as a prehistoric garden complete with enormous dinosaur footprints. There is also a fantastic Children's Garden, in which the girls could water plants, dig dirt, run though a bamboo forest and basically get as wet and dirty as they pleased! Needless to say, they loved it and we spent a long time there. Afterwards, we stopped at the Capitol Reflecting Pool where the girls fed the ducks.

Pia and Ella in the 'desert'

Later in the week we visited 2 more monuments to past presidents. The first was the Jefferson Memorial. Jefferson was the third president of the United States and was also the writer of the Declaration of Independence. Like so many of the public buildings, the monument is very classical in style and there is a huge statue of Jefferson in the centre of the memorial, with words from his speeches carved into the marble walls.

The Jefferson Memorial

Nearby is the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial which is much more open and very different in style. Roosevelt was the only president to serve four terms in office as he was in power during the Great Depression and WWII. The Memorial is divided into four outdoor rooms and each one is dedicated to one term in office.

FDR, his dog, Fala, and James

Other highlights of the week included another ride on the carousel on the Mall, and this time Pia managed to ride on the one and only fire-breathing dragon!


And on Saturday, James went in to the Mall to get a feel for the different events being held there that day. Glenn Becks' 'Restoring Honor' rally was held in front of the Lincoln Memorial. This event attracted many Republicans and those from the 'Tea Party' movement who are unhappy with the direction of the government at the moment. Sarah Palin was one of the speakers. This rally clashed with an event also being held on the Mall, celebrating the anniversary of Martin Luther King's 'I have a Dream' speech and so there was some tension (although peaceful) between the two groups. James promises to write an update on this event for you all very soon! Meanwhile here are a couple of photos from the day.